1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a TV (television) card and a computer system having the same, and more particularly, to a TV card and a computer system, in which it is possible not only to watch TV without booting the computer system but also to work with the computer system while watching TV.
2. Description of the Related Art
A TV card is a device for watching TV through a computer system. These days, a TV card is widely used, which includes a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) interface for being inserted in a slot provided on a main board (motherboard) of the computer system. Therefore, a user can watch TV through the computer system by installing the TV card in the computer system.
The TV card is comprised of a main chip, a tuner, and an I/O (Input/Output) port. The main chip is a main component for digitizing a received TV signal, overlaying a screen, capturing a moving picture, and superimposing a caption.
FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of an exemplary computer system having the TV card. As shown therein, the computer system comprises a PC (Personal Computer) remote controller 101, a computer 103 in which various hardware components are installed, and a display apparatus 105 displaying a picture by a signal from the computer 103.
The PC remote controller 101 remotely controls the computer system by transmitting a remote signal to the computer 103 according to control of a user.
The computer 103 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 118, a remote signal processing part 112 processing the remote signal received from the PC remote controller 101, a TV card 120 for receiving a TV signal, and a graphic card 122 transmitting a video signal to a display apparatus 105.
The remote signal processing part 112 is comprised of a remote signal receiving part 114 receiving the remote signal from the PC remote controller 101, and a micro controller 116 transmitting the remote signal received by the remote signal receiving part 114 to the CPU 118.
The TV card 120 converts the TV signal received through an antenna 126 into a digital TV signal, and transmits digital picture information to the graphic card 122 by adjusting the digital TV signal according to a resolution of the computer system. Herein, the digital video information is directly transmitted to the graphic card 122 through a PCI bus on the basis of a DMA (Direct Memory Access) transmittal mode.
The graphic card 122 receives the digital video signal based on the digital video information from the TV card 120, and supplies it to the display apparatus 105, thereby displaying the TV signal on the display apparatus 105.
Herein, because the graphic card 122 has a monitor port for outputting data of the computer 103 and a TV port for outputting the TV signal, a user can selectively connect a monitor 109 or a TV 107 with the monitor port or the TV port as necessary, respectively.
With this configuration, to watch TV through the computer system, a user first turns on the computer 103 by using a power button thereon (not shown) or the PC remote controller 101. According as the computer 103 is turned on, the CPU 118 performs BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) booting initializing every part, and then performs OS (Operating System) booting installing drivers to peripheral devices such as the TV card 120 and the graphic card 122 according to the operating system. After finishing the OS booting, the TV card 102 is controlled by the a corresponding OS driver when a user runs a TV application program.
The TV card 120 converts the TV signal received through antenna 126 into a digital TV signal, and transmits digital picture information to the graphic card 122 by adjusting the digital TV signal according to a resolution of the computer system, and then the graphic card 122 receives the digital video signal based on the digital video information from the TV card 120, and supplies it to the display apparatus 105, so that a user can watch TV through the display apparatus 105.
However, in this TV card, there is an inconvenience that a user must wait for the booting process to complete because the TV application program must be run under the OS in order to watch TV through the computer system, and it is difficult for a beginner to run the TV application program. Further, restraint is laid on running other application programs because the TV application program is previously running for displaying TV.